Title: Alien Devices
Author: SlayersGrl
Summary: The team finds an Ancient outpost on a deserted planet. Strange devices
and an unexpected encounter may provide them with exactly what they've been
looking for. But are they willing to pay the price?
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own Stargate Atlantis or any of its
characters... I'm simply writing for entertainment and because the plot bunnies
won't leave me alone.
Author's note: Wow, it's amazingly hard to keep track of what four characters are doing in a story, let alone eight! I'm trying to keep SG-1 involved in the storyline, but it's really hard to write that many characters in one scene!
sgafan33: Ok, this is why I don't write h/c fic… I have like zero medical knowledge. So, I changed that phrase to a nice vague "for a while." We'll just pretend any of Shep's amazing recuperative abilities are a side effect of being inhabited by an alien power source in "Out of Control"… Please let me know if I screw up any more medical facts. I'm glad you liked some of the dialog in the chapter though!
And thanks to everyone else who reviewed. You keep me motivated to write!
Chapter 4: Options
He was floating. Suspended in the murky darkness, he was overcome by a sense of weightlessness. He felt calm and peaceful. But for some reason, that feeling felt wrong. But he couldn't think of any reason why he shouldn't feel at ease. Suddenly, a hand reached out and grabbed his chest. He immediately recognized it as the hand of a Wraith. He watched in horror as the hand began to suck the life out of him. Just as the last drop of life was bout to leave his body, he heard a voice call out his name.
Through the fog that seemed to have taken over his mind, he struggled to place the voice. It sounded familiar. As he sought to place the disembodied voice, he felt himself drawn away from the suffocating darkness and back towards the land of the living.
Major Sheppard surged upright as consciousness returned to him. He instantly regretted it. His chest felt like someone had been pounding on it with a sledgehammer. As he lay back down, he turned his head slightly and finally placed a face with the voice.
"Teyla?"
"Major, you are awake."
"So it seems... What happened?"
She smiled wistfully. "You died." At his perplexed look, she asked, "What is the last thing you remember?"
He had to contemplate the question for a moment. They had been on a mission… to the Ancient outpost… They had found a stockpile of alien gadgets… Everything had been fine until… "The Wraith!"
"Relax Major! There are no Wraith here. I assure you that we are safe."
"Ford? McKay? Where are they?" Something must be wrong, he thought as he struggled to lift himself up on his elbows to get a better look at his surroundings. Why was only Teyla here? His efforts were halted by a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
"They are both safe. In fact, they are on their way here as we speak. They were briefing General O'Neill."
That last statement got his attention. "Where are we?"
Teyla smiled. "We are on Earth."
So many revelations in such a short period of time had his mind reeling. Sheppard struggled to make sense of the information he had received so far. He wasn't dead, although apparently he had been at some point. His team was safe. And there were no Wraiths in sight. But perhaps the most baffling was that they were home. "What the hell is going on?"
"I was hoping you might be able to answer some of that," McKay said as he suddenly appeared in John's line of vision. He appeared to be breathing hard, like he had just run the whole way here.
Ford appeared next to him a moment later, a wide grin plastered on his face. "Good to see you conscious sir."
"Don't get me wrong, it's great to see all of you. But why aren't we dead?"
"You don't remember?" McKay asked.
"Remember what? The last thing I recall is the Wraiths about to suck the life out of all of us."
Any further explanations were halted by the arrival of the members of SG-1 along with the leader of the SGC. "Major Sheppard, I see you've decided to join our briefing," Jack said with a smile as he stopped next to the growing number of people that had surrounded his bed.
"That's what everyone keeps saying, sir." Then the major turned to his teammates. "Are we sure this is for real this time? Maybe it's some sort of cruel Wraith joke…"
"What do you mean this time?" Daniel asked, picking up on the conversation.
Ford decided to answer before McKay started to explain all the scientific aspects of the weird mist planet. "We thought we had found a way home, but it turns out we were deceived by the local life forms. They made us think we had made it home to prevent us from actually doing it so we wouldn't kill off millions of their kind. Luckily, we convinced them to let us return to Atlantis if we promised to never go back."
McKay glared at Ford for a moment. "Well that's certainly the layman's explanation…" Then he turned to Sheppard. "And to answer your question, as far as we can tell, this appears to be the real thing. At least we're all sharing the same reality this time."
John nodded his head. It wasn't a definitive yes, but it would have to do. "Now, what was I supposed to remember?"
The Atlantis team looked at each other briefly. By unspoken agreement, Rodney got the task of trying to explain what had happened to their leader. "You somehow used the device to transport us to Earth. Although, the process appears to drain you physically. Major, your heart stopped."
John frowned at that revelation. That must be why his chest hurt.
"What's the last thing you remember thinking?"
"That we were totally screwed. And that I wished we were back on Atlantis."
Now it was McKay's turn to frown. "What exactly was your thought? That we were back on Atlantis or just anywhere but there?"
He thought for a moment before replying, "That we were as far away from there as possible."
"Well that explains why we ended up here instead of the city. Think about it. You wanted to be as far away as possible from the Wraith. You may have been thinking of Atlantis, but subconsciously your mind knew that Earth was the farthest place from that outpost that you knew of." Suddenly, the pieces fell into place. "Of course, the mental component! You have to know locations to use the device!"
"You have to know where things are before you can transport them," Sam interrupted, following Rodney's line of reasoning.
"Or you have to know the location to transport things to," Rodney added.
Sheppard suddenly realized something. "So, I guess we can't just ask for a ZPM?"
"Not unless you happen to know where one is…"
Teyla then asked, "So the food and the explosives must have come from the supplies at Atlantis?"
Rodney nodded his head.
Jack decided to add his input to the conversation. "This is all very educational. But the question is where do we go from here?"
"Surely you will want to return to the city of the Ancients," Teal'c added.
"And the only way for you to do that is to use that device."
"No! Absolutely not!" Rodney exclaimed. "That thing killed the major! And it'll probably do it again if we try. What if we can't revive him? No, we'll have to find another way." No matter how much he wanted to return to the city, he wouldn't risk Major Sheppard's life to do it. And he knew Ford and Teyla felt the same way.
Jack nodded his head. He understood exactly what the scientist was saying. He didn't think the risk was worth taking either. "Alright Dr. McKay, you and Colonel Carter get started on researching some viable options." He then told the rest of the team to get some rest, especially the major. "Let me know as soon as you have anything."
McKay and Carter quickly headed off to her lab, already discussing ideas for alternate methods of getting back to Atlantis. Jack and Teal'c also left to attend to other responsibilities around the base. That just left two standing next to the major's bed.
"You had better get some rest," Teyla said.
"Don't worry sir, we'll stop by later. Maybe we can even manage to smuggle some food in for you," Ford added.
"Since we're home, it'd better be fast and greasy. No base food!"
Ford chuckled. "I'll see what I can do."
But his comment was lost on the major. He was amazed how the mention of sleep had made him realize how utterly exhausted he was. The brief adrenaline rush he had experience earlier had long since worn off and he quickly succumbed to his previous state of unconsciousness.
